Scottish novelist/playwright Denise Mina has been chosen to adapt the Millennium Trilogy into comics, it was revealed in The Scotsman. Known as a purveyor of “Tartan Noir,” Mina already has solid comics cred, having written a year’s worth of HELLBLAZER and A SICKNESS IN THE FAMILY for the Vertigo Crime line.

The GN adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s hugely successful books, starring investigator/hacker Lisbeth Salander, were announced back in October — to be published by DC’s Vertigo imprint — but no further details have been released. The first book in the comics adaptation will be out in March — each novel will be split into two GNs for a total of six books.

Mina said she was “delighted” to have been chosen to refashion the books for a new audience. “There are going to be six graphic novels, two for each book. It will take two to three years and it just means I will be writing comics when I’m not writing novels.”

[snip] Mina is the author of nine novels with strong female characters, including Field of Blood, which was recently adapted into a television drama by the BBC, and she is also a bestseller in Sweden. She said she was a great admirer of the Larsson novels but planned to make the character of Salander tougher and less attractive.

Well, that should be interesting!

The late author Larsson was apparently a comics readers, and one of his family members said he would have approved of the adaptation.

Larsson’s books have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. A Swedish film trilogy based on the books was an international hit; the US version, directed by David Fincher and starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig, is due to open on December 21.

Heidi MacDonald is the founder and editor in chief of The Beat. In the past, she worked for Disney, DC Comics, Fox and Publishers Weekly. She can be heard regularly on the More To Come Podcast. She likes coffee, cats and noble struggle.